Mozart A Biography Essay Research Paper Wolfgang

Mozart A Biography Essay, Research Paper

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Early Years

European Tours (1756 – 1766)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as he is generally known, was baptized in a Salzburg Cathedral on the day after his birth as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus. The first and last given names come from his godfather Joannes Theophilus Pergmayr, although Mozart preferred the Latin form of this last name, Amadeus, more often Amad , or the Italiano Amadeo, and occasionally the Deutsch Gottlieb. Whatever the case may be, he rarely – if ever – used Theophilus in his signature. The name Chrysostomus originates from St. John Chrysostom, whose feast falls on the 27th of January. The name Wolfgang was given to him in honor of his maternal grandfather, Wolfgang Nikolaus Pertl.

He was the seventh and last child born to musical author, composer and violinist, Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria Pertl. Only Wolfgang and Maria Anna (whose nickname was ‘Nannerl’) survived infancy. He was born in a house in the Hagenauersches Haus(today’s Getriedegasse 9) in Salzburg, Austria, on the 27th of January, 1756.

Anna Maria

Leopold

The paternal ancestry of the family has been traced back with some degree of certainty to Fndris Motzhart, who lived in the Augsburg area in 1486; the name is first recorded, for a Heinrich Motzhart in Fischach, in 1331, and appears in other villages south-west of Augsburg, notably Heimberg, from the 14th century. The surname was spelled in a variety of forms, including Mozarth, Mozhard and Mozer. His mother’s family came mainly from the Salzburg region (her father held administrative appointments at H llenstein, near St. Gilgen), but one branch may be traced to Krems-Stein and Wien. They mostly followed lower middle-class occupations; some were gardeners.

Though he did not walk until he was three years old, Mozart displayed musical gifts at an extremely early age. At the age of four, he could reproduce on the piano a melody played to him; at five, he could play the violin with perfect intonation. In fact, with more recent evidence, Mozart is believed to have written his first composition just a few short days before his fourth birthday! These compositions, an Andante and Allegro K1a and K1b, were written, Leopold noted, early in 1760, as he approached his fourth birthday. They are very brief, and modelled on the little pieces that his sister had been given to play (and which he also learnt; the “Wolfgang Notenbuch” is a forgery). As they survive only in his father’s handwriting, it is impossible to determine how much of them are Mozart’s own work.

So when the six-year-old Wolfgang had proved his extraordinary talents at the keyboard, Leopold was keen to exhibit those talents along with those of his gifted pianist daughter, Nannerl. Thus Leopold undertook a four month tour of Vienna and the surrounding area, visiting every noble house and palace he could find, taking the entire family with him. Mozart’s first known public appearance was at Salzburg University in September of 1761, when he took part in a theatrical performance with music by Eberlin. Like other parents of his time, Leopold Mozart saw nothing wrong in exhibiting, or in exploiting, his son’s God-given genius for music. He took Wolfgang and Nannerl to M nchen, for about three weeks from January 12th, 1762, where they played the harpsichord before the Elector of Bavaria. No documentation survives for that journey. Later ones are better served – Leopold was a prolific correspondent and also kept travel diaries. The next started on September 18th, 1762, when the entire family set off for Wien; they paused at Passau and Linz where the young Wolfgang gave his first public recital at The Trinity Inn, Linz, on October 1st, 1762. Soon afterwards, he amazed the Empress at Schonbrunn Castle and all her royal guests with fascinating keyboard tricks: playing with the keys covered with a cloth, with his hands behind his back, and so on.

Wolfgang in a costume given to him by Empress Maria Theresa. Painted by P.A. Lorenzoni, 1763.

Except for a short time in December at Pressburg (Bratislava), at the invitation of a group of Hungarian patrons, they remained in Wien until the end of the year, playing at the homes of various noblemen and appearing twice before Maria Theresia and her consort at Sch nbrunn. The Empress sent them a set of court clothes, which they wore for the well-known paintings later done in Salzburg, probably by P.A. Lorenzoni. Leopold’s reports of the children’s triumphs, in letters to his friend and landlord Lorenz Hagenauer, are corroborated by the diary entries of Count Zinzendorf: Mozart “plays marvellously, he is a child of spirit, lively, charming.”

As the young Mozart’s reputation grew, his father Leopold realized the financial opportunities that could arise from increased exposure of his son’s talents. From that time on, Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl spent much of their childhood traveling through Europe. The rulers of Europe and England were astounded by Wolfgang’s abilities of composition, improvisations, and sight reading. While the public admired Wolfgang for his talents, they disapproved quite heartily of his father, saying extensive voyages and frequent exhibitions were no life for the child.

The family returned to Salzburg on January 5th, 1763. In February of that year, Moz